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| Founded | 2005 | |||
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| Airport lounge | Plesman Lounge | |||
| Fleet size | 3 (+4 orders) | |||
| Destinations | 9 | |||
| Company slogan | Your Caribbean Wings | |||
| Parent company | Dutch Antilles Express B.V. | |||
| Headquarters | Willemstad, Curaçao | |||
| Key people | Stanley Mario Betrian (CEO) Frank Rudolph Emiel Weise (Statutory Director) Gianni Felipe Marcelo Anthony Schob (Statutory Director), Hughbert Delsol(COO), Steve Frederick Sloop(CCO) | |||
| Website | http://www.flydae.com/ | |||
Dutch Antilles Express is a regional airline of the former territory of Curaçao. It operates high-frequency scheduled services in the Dutch Caribbean and to Venezuela, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. Its main base is at Hato International Airport, Curaçao. The head office is at Pietermaai, Willemstad, Curaçao.[1] Dutch Antilles Express announced on December 13, 2010 that Arnold B. Leonora had purchased the airline from Niek Sandman, who left to pursue other interests. In acquiring the Curaçao-based regional carrier, Leonora said his plan would be to “help Curaçao become one of the important hubs in the region,” making use of Aruba to expand the airline’s operations. Leonora noted, “DAE will be a true Dutch Caribbean airline servicing Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao with flights originating in all three islands."
Due to an escalating debt from poor market conditions, the government of Curaçao stepped in on May 31, 2011, to keep the airline in the air.[2] The airline has been purchased from Arnold Leonora by the Curaçao government for a cash injection sum of two injections of 1.5m guilders.[3]
The airline is currently operating a much reduced schedule with a reduced fleet of two aircraft Fokker 100 .
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The airline started operations with a single ATR 42 in 2003 as BonairExel (part of the Exel Aviation Group) and soon expanded to encompass most of the Dutch Antilles and Aruba. Although an Embraer ERJ 145 was used on the Bonaire-Aruba flights, the aircraft was soon disposed of again, returning to Air Exel. Although BonairExel flew its aircraft in the Exel color scheme; operated with Air Exel aircraft; and flew with Air Exel cabin staff; the airline was wholly owned by a Dutch millionaire residing on Bonaire, and operated simply as a franchise carrier. As the local market was rather small, a subsidiary was formed on Curaçao, named Curaçao Exel. Dutch Caribbean Airlines (DCA) declared bankruptcy not long after.[4] Exel Aviation noticed that the Caribbean airlines were very profitable, and set up its own Aruba Exel, causing distress amongst the other franchise carriers.
With the Exel empire expanding too rapidly in Europe and the Caribbean, it was no surprise that the dream would not last long. In a lawsuit against Nick Sandman (owner of Bonaire and Curaçao Exel) to demand back the invested amount, and confiscate back the ATR 42 aircraft, ties dissolved between the Exel Aviation Group and the Caribbean franchise carriers. With minimal funds, the airline made an attempt to distance itself from its partner, changing its names to BonairExpress and CuraçaoExpress. This move permantently broke up the alliance, causing no more profits to go to the ailing Exel Aviation Group. All Exel airlines disappeared, including fellow Aruba Exel.
Previously the airline's head office was in the Plasa Medardo SV Thielman in Kralendijk, Bonaire.[5] In April 2007 the airline moved its head office from Bonaire to Curaçao, where the airline's flight operations have been based. The airline's call centre and its revenue accounting and handling departments remained in Bonaire.[6]
After numerous lawsuits, Bonaire (now called Bonaire Express) and Curaçao Express merged to form Dutch Antilles Express, which started operations on 30 April 2005 with flights between the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. On 9 December 2005, its first international services to Valencia, Venezuela, were launched.
After the airline's reconstruction, two ATR 42s were sent for a C-Check and received the new color scheme, with a green flyDAE logo. While this was taking place, the airline leased two Fokker 50s from Denim Air, which flew the Curaçao–St. Maarten route until the return of the ATR 42s.
There are several differences in the liveries of Dutch Antilles Express aircraft.
The Fokker 100 Old Livery have the old DAE livery. It's all white and on the tail section it has the DAE logo. The fuselage has the DAE website on it. The planes will be updated with the new livery.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 New Livery has the brand new livery which will be painted on all airplanes. On the fuselage it has the blue and yellow stripes which represents the waters of the Caribbean from which Curacao forms a part of and the Sun, typical of standard Caribbean weather. The engines have Curacao's official logo on it and the aircraft's tail features the O representing the sun from Curacao's logo.
Dutch Antilles Express serve the following destinations, as at August 2011:
The Dutch Antilles Express fleet consists of the following aircraft (at December 2011):[8]
| Aircraft | In Service | On Order | Passengers | Aircraft Registration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fokker 100 | 2 | 0 | 100 | PJ-DAA, PJ-DAB | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD83 | 1 | 1 | 152 | N120MN, TBA | |
| ATR 42-320 | 0 | 3 | 42 | TBA | One will begin operations in January 2012 and the other two in April 2012 |
| Total | 3 | 4 |
Past aircraft of The Dutch Antilles Express consists of the following: (at October 2011):[9]
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers | Aircraft Registration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 42-320 | 2 | 46 | PJ-XLM | Returned to Lessor on 07/2011 |
| 46 | PJ-SLH | Returned to Lessor on 09/2011 | ||
| ATR 42-500 | 1 | 48 | PJ-XLN | Returned to Lessor on 05/2011 |
| Total | 3 |
DAE is the only Jet Fokker operator in the Caribbean. It has been revealed on the airline's Facebook page that the airline has recently acquired MD80's for it's new fleet after the airline's restructuring and that the airline has successfully negotiated for the return of the ATR's in the beginning of 2012.
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